December Golf along the 30th parallel

[Steve Lang]

 

OK, so we had 12" of rain in November and with the 70+°F temps in SE TX..

December has definitely been short sleeves, 60-70's only a couple of days in the 50's so far, but do we wear shorts too?  Yesterday it was about half and half of the golfers I saw.. though 67°F is slightly chillier than SoCal, who cares?

Complain or degrade all you want about the lack of gca "pedigree" around here, golf is great year round along this part of the 30th Parallel.. the bermuda rough has been tamed, the dormant greens are running fast, few things are as nice as a warm SE gulf breeze and blue skies as we reach the Winter solstice,.. so Happy Holidays, and keep those Canadian cold fronts were they should be.. above the 40th parallel..

Enjoy  

[ed_getka]

Steve,
   I don't know about year 'round, seems summers can be a little oppressive with the heat and humidity. Of course, I'm just splitting hairs, since I'm out here in California.

[Ted Kramer]

Just got back from playing 18 in south Jersey.
40*, cloudy, a little misty, not much wind 5-10mph, course empty, perfect!!!

I played year round on LI when I lived up there and I'll do the same here in NJ.
Just as long as there is no snow on the ground and the course is open, I'll play.

It must be great to play year round in a warmer climate, but I think that 90* and humid is worse weather than what I played in today . . .

-Ted

[ed_getka]

Ted,
  Are you playing to real greens?

[Ted Kramer]

Ted,
  Are you playing to real greens?

yes.
Pine Hill, the course is in very good shape and open tee to green.

-Ted

[Brian_Gracely]

36 holes at CCNC (Pinehurst) today in 5.5hrs, with wool sweater and turtleneck....    

Greens were in incredible shape (prom night firm and fast) and the fairways (albeit dormant) were firm and rolling.  No mud on the balls in the fairway.

[Bill_McBride]

Brian -- "prom night firm and fast..."  

Great line!  

[Brian_Gracely]

Brian -- "prom night firm and fast..."  

Great line!  

Bill,

Can't take credit for it....Tom Paul apparently heard it from someone up in PA and I borrowed it from him.  

You don't get to be GCA's most overrated poster without borrowing from the Doyens once in a while

[Steve Lang]

 

Another fantastic day on the links.. 3 sunny blue sky days in a row, 61°, 67°, and 64°F and Monday PM another go.. as it looks to be slightly warmer tomorrow,.. before heading Tues to an apparent winter wonderland in Michigan..

In a way, we sort of miss the heat, for about a milli-second, but really its not that bad, playing golf in a dog's mouth..  Just carry 7-8 clubs, 4 balls, and not much else, drink a lot of water, carry some provisional ice, and keep the pace up..

would be nice to be in calif..  but there's more industry here..

 

 

[Bill_McBride]

Brian, we need to talk about the Southeastern GCA outing in Nov 05.  Pinehurst is looking very pricey unless we can get creative. I checked out my favorite inn's website, Pinecrestinn.com, and the total package would be hefty.  The costs at Cuscowilla would be chump change by comparison!  Ran says he's looking into a special package at Pine Needles / Mid Pines.  Hopefully that will work out.  I'd also like to see us look at dates before the end of daylight savings.

[Mike_Cirba]

I know I'm going to jinx myself, but I've lived in the Philly area for over 20 years now and before the past two winters, during most years I've played almost year round, with south Jersey (remember that Crump built Pine Valley partly as a place to get away for winter golf and the Atlantic City Country Club before then was the winter Mecca for Philadelphians looking for a winter round) and Maryland the sites of most of my "winter tours".  I've also spent a fair amount of my winter time in and around NYC, and there are quite a number of year-round sites there, as well.

However, even further north in the Philly burbs, many courses are open year-round, as long as there is no snow on the ground.  I've had many enjoyable winter rounds, where one can play quickly and enjoy a brisk, 40-50 degree day on foot.

It beats the hell out of a day spent in front of the TV watching the NFL.